Stefan makes his way up the stairs to Wyndemere from the launch. He’d
left Dara’s while she was still asleep but had told her of his
intention the night before, letting her know Tasha has an early morning
appointment with Dr. Lewis and he could not miss the outcome. Dr. Lewis
had been working with Tasha to give her the top ten most wanted Bad
People as it pertained to the Cassadines. Scott Baldwin had even made
the list more on the don’t talk to this man at all rather than physical danger to Tasha. Tasha
had been grounded until recently for talking to Lorenzo Alcazar.
Stranger danger is something that is having to be re-instilled in his
sister. Alexis had received the same lesson back when her mother’s
throat had been slit by Helena right in front of her. That had started
the fracture in Alexis psyche that had broken to a crevasse when she’d
delivered Kristina prematurely and then killed Luis Alcazar.

Dr.
Lewis had not just been Alexis’ friend but once upon a time potentially
more. Now he reports to the court on the drawings of a woman with the
mental age of about eight. Sometimes though there are shadows of
Alexis, communicating through a journal or in her automatic responses.
It’s been a tough adjustment to realize the sister he’d known for years
was actually an alter. His true sister had been buried under protective
mental and emotional layers arrested to the age when her mind had
broken. Penny had come at the situation with a refreshing perspective.
Since the limit of Alexis’ culinary ability had been microwave popcorn,
she’d already started Natasha on lessons in the kitchen. She saw it as
a opportunity to correct what had gone wrong before. It’s a healthier
attitude.

“Good Morning, Master Stefan. Will you be requiring breakfast this morning?”

“Yes, please
Mrs. Lansbury. And the correspondence, newspapers as well if they won’t disturb Tasha.”

“Every
thing is about Miss Barbara’s poor daughter, Caroline. Good lessons in
there for Miss Natasha. She’s awake and getting ready for breakfast
now.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Lansbury.”

“Oh and Sir? Mr. Marcus
called. Poor man is up to his ears in work but he knows Miss Natasha
has her appointment this morning and was hoping to stop by and check on
her after.”

“Good. Please let me know when he arrives. I would like a few private minutes with the Lieutenant.”

“Very good, sir.”
Mrs. Lansbury retreats after a brief nod.

Tasha announces her arrival by running down the stairs. “You weren’t here last night.”

“No, I was on the mainland.” Stefan answers truthfully but doesn’t feel the need to give more detail.

“I told
Mrs. Lansbury you should be grounded too because you didn’t tell anyone where you went, but she said you told her.”
Tasha watches her brother closely to see if that is the truth or if Mrs.
Lansbury is just covering for her brother. Mrs. Lansbury always does
whatever Stefan wants and it’s just not fair.

“Mrs. Lansbury knows how to get hold of me.”

“That
doesn’t count!” Tasha protests. She puts her ankle up on the chair to
show off the ever present monitor. “Mr. Marcus knows how to find me too
after the bad lady kills me and stuffs my body down a deep dark hole.”

Mrs.
Lansbury had just been about to announce Cameron Lewis but keeps silent
as Dr. Lewis had waved a hand wanting to hear what Tasha said. It’s
interesting since in fact that is exactly what Helena had done. The bad
lady had killed Tasha’s mother and stuffed Tasha down the deep dark
hole that is the protective cocoon of her brain. “What would count,
Tasha?”

“He should have to tell where he is, like I do. Otherwise it’s rude!” Tasha declares loudly.

“Mrs. Lansbury, it looks like we’re going to have a discussion here.”

“I’ll bring you some scones and coffee, sir.”

“You’re
an angel. Let me know if they don’t treat you right.” Cameron comes
over to the breakfast table and pulls up a seat. Tasha takes the seat
across from him in a more adversarial position although today maybe Dr.
Cam would be on her side and Stefan would have to tell where he is
going too. Stefan takes a seat at the head of the table but bites his
tongue watching, waiting and observing where this is going. “Most
people don’t wear an ankle bracelet like yours, Natasha. You wear it
because of the bad lady.” It’s not quite the truth but as much as the
child like woman could understand. “Most people carry these instead.”
Dr. Lewis pulls out his cell phone and puts it on the table. “But it’s
rude to answer the phone when you’re talking to someone else. That’s
saying the person who is calling is more important than the person
you’re talking to.” Dr. Lewis makes a production of shutting off his
phone.

“Well why can’t I have a cell phone instead of this?”

Stefan answers this question. “Too many people lose their phones and you are too precious to lose.”

“Oh.”
Tasha thinks about that. “Why can’t I have both? That way I can call
Zander when I can’t sleep. He says I can call him any time I want.”

“Did you call Zander last night when you couldn’t find Stefan after the bad dream?”

Tasha looks away and doesn’t answer.

“It’s okay, Tasha. Zander told you it was okay to call him.”

“Yes.”

“And he made you feel better so you could go back to sleep?”

“Zander
says he is going to come see me and bring me another tape. It won’t be
of Mama but some of her friends. And he says that the Bad Lady is
hiding now cause people are hunting her to beat her up and call Mr.
Marcus on her. He says the Bad Lady doesn’t have time for me right now.
She’s more mad at other people. He says all I have to worry bout is all
the people who don’t like Stefan.”

Cameron winces. “That’s my boy.”

“Which
is why Dr. Lewis has pictures of all the people who don’t like me.”
Stefan says easily. “Of course these people might get someone else to
be bad for them so you have to be on guard, Tasha. If you don’t know
someone then don’t talk to them until you are introduced to them by me,
Nikolas or Mr. Marcus. Come get us and we’ll be happy to tell you if
they are a friend or not.”

“But the Bad Lady, what if she is
more mad at Mama or Papa? Shouldn’t they come here now that she’s gone?
Wouldn’t it be safer here now?”

And that is a whole different can of worms.

Zander
had called Luke’s place after talking to Tasha the night before. He
already knows that Luke’s more of a night owl than an early bird and he
won’t be able to pick up the tape until after lunch. Because of the
afternoon appointment he’d headed into ELQ early to get done everything
that came under the umbrella of VP in charge of Paperclips. Ever since
his deposition had been given to the court so that AJ could get his
parental rights back he’d been shadowed by one of Faith’s goons. She
was probably hoping to use him as bait to take out one of Sonny’s
minions. But Carly’s kidnapping had focused everyone’s energy there.
Sooner or later, Sonny would come after him for crossing him. But right
now Sonny is a freaking mess, and everything around him is too. It’s a
surprise and a statement of Faith’s commitment to her relationship with
Ned that she hadn’t jumped into the fray and grabbed power. Whatever
Ned and the Quartermaines are offering is evidently sweeter than taking
control of The Organization in Port Charles. Either that or she figured
that a power grab wouldn’t stop Jason Morgan from putting a bullet
behind her ear then go back to looking for Carly.

“You’re in
early.” Ned stops by the open door and takes a step in. He looks at the
stack of papers on Zander’s desk. The VP in charge of Paperclips had
been a ceremonial title when Junyur had held it, but Zander applied his
experience as a drug dealer to the position and stream lined contracts
that had to do with supplies. A Multinational Corp like ELQ went thru a
lot of paper, pens, computers in the course of taking over their piece
of the pie. If there was a demand then Zander handled the supply.
Nobody had the excuse of needing a shoe for their horse in order to win
the war.

“I’m going to see Tasha this afternoon.”

“How is she doing?” Ned comes in and takes a seat.

“She called late last night after she should have been asleep. Bad dream.”

“Does that happen often?”

“She
tells me about her bad dreams sometimes but it’s after the fact. She
normally only calls me when she’s in trouble with Stefan.”

Ned grins at that. “And what kind of trouble could that be?”

Zander is not amused. “When Nikolas and Penny found Lorenzo Alcazar pushing her on her swing.”

Ned isn’t amused either. “Does Faith know about this?”

“Probably
wouldn’t even hit Faith’s radar. Besides she wouldn’t care even if it
did.” Zander states matter of factly. “She knows Alcazar is in Port
Charles and has been watching people in town: Sonny, Jax, Ric Lansing,
Skye. She’d pin a medal on the guy if he took out three of the four.
Hell she’d probably pin a medal on the guy if he took out Tasha so that
the Nut job wouldn’t ever be around the baby.” Zander’s tone is bitter at the last.

“I think Faith has proven over and
over that she is more comfortable with... personality disorder than mentally ill.” Ned doesn’t know if
he is apologizing for his wife or not. While Faith is more extreme, he
recognizes guiltily that he feels the same way. It’s one of the reasons
he hasn’t made more, hell any, effort to see Alexis after the first
time out on the island.

Taggart
pounds on the door of the Condo that had once belonged to Ric Lansing.
Alcazar answers his own door. Course having the PCPD on the other side
of the door is not a surprise. He’d been observed from the time he’d
left his car down in the garage. “The oh so earnest Mr. Marcus. What
have I done today to warrant another visit from the PCPD?”

“It’s
Taggart, Lt. Taggart.” Marcus makes it clear. He sees Javier on the far
side of the room. “And this is a private conversation.”

Lorenzo
waves a hand and Javier retreats from the room but Marcus gets the
feeling he isn’t going far. “And now we are alone, Lt. Taggart. What can
I do for you?”

“Little birdy told me you may be keeping tabs on Ric Lansing...” among others.

“Just
because it was Alexis Davis’ blade that pushed my brother to his death
doesn’t mean that I don’t know that she just beat Ric Lansing to it.
Lansing may have stayed in Port Charles to bond with his brother but he
came here to kill my brother.”

“And yet here you are living in Lansing’s condo.” Taggart indicates with one hand the apartment.

“My
Condo now. It was a very good deal.” Lorenzo says coolly. He
nonverbally offers Taggart a cup of coffee which is declined and then
pours himself a cup. “Has this little birdy been telling you anything
else of interest?”

“That Lansing may have had something to do with the disappearance of Carly Corinthos.”

“He
is quite the villain isn’t he? So why are you visiting with me? I hope
you’re not expecting me to do your dirty work for you and beat the
truth out of Mr. Lansing. While I would enjoy the process I believe that
wouldn’t be admissible in your Courts. Stalking Horse, I believe it is
called. It’s never been a goal of mine to be an Agent of the Police.”
Lorenzo smirks in Taggart’s direction.

“There has been a two
million dollar reward put out for information leading to the safe
recovery of Carly Corinthos. Not even apprehension of the kidnapper.
Just getting her back.” Taggart raises his voice slightly. Maybe
Alcazar wouldn’t bite. He didn’t need the money but maybe his minion
wouldn’t be so picky. “And I’m not asking for anything you might find
out from here on out. Agent of the police and all that. But if you
happened to have any information from before, from keeping an eye on
Lansing...”

“I would have to check with my people.” Lorenzo non-answers.

“You
do that and give us a call. It would go a long way toward clearing your
books with the PCPD. Sonny Corinthos is one thing but a pregnant woman
with a history of life threatening complications....” Taggart is
reluctant to say more, reluctant to offer more. It was killing him to
offer this much when he would like to shove the guy off one of the
cliffs over on Spoon Island.

“I’ll check with my people.” Lorenzo says again.

Taggart leaves. There is nothing more for him here.

Javier
comes out of the back. “Playing by the rules doesn’t seem to be working
for the good Lieutenant. What would he say about that Panic room in
Lansing’s house?”

“Nothing yet.” Lorenzo says absently. “First
we have to verify that Mrs. Corinthos is there and make sure it is
revealed in the worst possible way for Mr. Lansing. If I decide to
reveal it at all-- watching Corinthos organization fall to pieces while
he drinks himself into a stupor, Luis would savor this.” Lorenzo looks
down at his watch. “First I have an appointment with the owner of the
Herald.”

Tasha looks up at the clouds laying back on the grass her head resting on Zander’s stomach. “I love my present.”

“I’m
glad.” Zander replies. He’d brought a different player so both he and
Natasha could listen to the CD Luke had made. Luke had put together a
mix of his own. His record collection might encompass the width and
breadth of genres but it’s a little thin in the Opera section. He’d
filled in with some early female blues and jazz greats. Definitely more
Zander’s cup of tea than listening to women screech in Italian. “How
did your session go today?”

“Dr. Cam thinks I should have a cell
phone. Stefan has one and that’s why he doesn’t have to tell Mrs.
Lansbury where he goes at night.”

“Tasha.” Zander’s voice is stern. He knows his father too well to believe that crock.

“Well I’d still have to wear my anklet because I might lose the cell phone, and Stefan says I’m too precious to lose.”

“Now that I believe.”

“And then Mr. Marcus came over cause he’s always afraid that Dr. Cam will say something that will make me cry.”

“Did he, make you cry I mean?”

“No,
we had cookies instead. Mrs. Lansbury makes excellent cookies. But it
was very sad. I know you said that the Bad Lady went away but Mr. Marcus
told me about the other lady stolen right out of the church. I would
have kicked and screamed and made all kinds of noise. But Dr. Cam said
the bad person must have given her some medicine that made her go to
sleep. Which is why you should never talk to strangers even if they
seem nice.” Tasha says righteously. “And when they thought I wasn’t
listening Stefan told Mr. Marcus that the bad man who made me be on
punishment, he might know who kidnapped the lady from the church. Maybe
he did it himself!”

“It’s rude to listen in on other people’s conversations, Tasha.”

“But Mr. Marcus came over to see me.” Tasha looks up at Zander. “Are you mad at me?”

Zander
brushes a hand down her arm. “No, of course not. I could never be mad
at you. Well unless you locked yourself in the bathroom again.”

“Nope. They don’t count. Mr. Marcus either. But nobody else. Nope, I could never be mad at you.”

Tasha
turns over on her stomach so she can look at Zander without crossing
her eyes. In the process of doing so she gets tangled in the earphone
wires and it takes a minute for everything to get untangled. Then she
finally gets to tell him. “You’re my best friend, Zander.”

“And you’re mine, Tash.”

Skye
decided early on that she was going to make a success of being the
editor, publisher and owner of the Herald. It meant trusting the people
who head all the divisions and their decisions. Nobody can do it all
and she sure as hell isn’t a superwoman. Because the paper is a 24 hour
business she can take her Uncle Stuart’s advice and match her hours as
much as possible with Coleman so they can spend time together. Kyle is
a good kid but finding alone time with Cole is getting tough.
Especially now that Kyle is out of school. Thank the gods for soccer
practice. And now this. “How is it going, AJ?”

“Too soon to tell.” But AJ’s tone is grim.

“Where are you?”

“Michael
and I took Rosie to the dog park so she can play off the leash. He’s
throwing the ball for her and for about a half dozen other dogs.”

“Well that sounds okay.”

“He hasn’t said two words to me. You’d think I was the one that
kidnapped Carly the way he’s treating me.”

“It took Carly and Sonny six years to make him hate you this much, AJ. You can’t fix it overnight. One day at a time, bro.”

“AA as it applies to fatherhood.” AJ jokes.

“You
and I have both been there, AJ. Noticed when we were cute and maybe not
even then. Can you think of a better motto for a father? Cause doesn’t
that imply that you’re there every day, one day at a time?!”

“I hear you, Skye. And I know you're right. I just don’t know what to do.”

“What
you’re doing now.” Skye counters. “Kyle has a soccer match later. There
are normally a lot of families watching. And the younger kids play in
the earlier matches. I’m sure you’ve got a hell of a tailgate on that
Hummer. But if you bring Rosie she better be on a leash. I don’t want
to step in anything.” Skye smiles as she hears AJ’s laughter. “I’ll see
you later?”

“We’ll be there.” AJ agrees. “Thanks Skye.”

“Anytime,
AJ. You know that.” Skye hangs up the phone and looks up to see the
quizzical gaze of Lorenzo Alcazar. “How long have you been standing
there?”

“Long enough. Your brother is having trouble with your nephew?”

It’s not worth explaining that AJ isn’t really her brother and Michael isn’t really
her nephew. “Michael is traumatized by his mother’s kidnapping. He never
had a chance before this to get to know his father so he’s getting a
double whammy.” Skye takes a deep breath. “Sorry. This is really none
of your business but it’s just so frustrating because Michael is the
one that is suffering for the choices that his par... adults made.”

“Isn’t
that always the case?” Lorenzo suggests softly. “All I know is from the
research that Luis did. Sonny has been parenting his wife’s son?”

Skye
snorts at that. “I’ve spent enough time on the couch to not want to
call it parenting. More like Alienation of affection. AJ didn’t count.
He was just biological. Sonny was the father of choice and AJ has horns
and a tail and carries a pitchfork. And that is all on Carly. Dara told
AJ he might as well set up a trust fund for Michael’s therapy now...
even without the kidnapping.”

“I will never
say that.” Skye denies. “I hate what Carly did to my brother. Hell what
they did to each other. I get it okay. I’m not the only drunk in the
family. AJ did some really stupid things when booze had the wheel. But
Michael is the sum of his parts, of both of his parents as well as his
upbringing. Frankly I’m afraid for Carly because I don’t think this
kidnapping is about business. If it were then Sonny could bargain and
wouldn’t so obviously be falling apart. It’s not about money. It’s
personal. It’s crazy. If something happens to Carly, Michael will blame
himself. He already blames himself for not being able to stop this.”
Skye blinks and then shakes her head. “Why am I talking to you about
this?!”

Lorenzo smiles. “You evidently needed to get it off your chest.”

“What are you even doing here?”

“I was hoping to take you to lunch but it looks as if you have your hands full. Perhaps another time.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Skye counters.

“We’ll see.” With that Lorenzo leaves.

Zander
hesitates by the door to his apartment with the key out and then
stuffing his keys back in his pocket walks across the hall and raps on
the door. “Hey you want to go out to Eli’s or some...” Zander sees that
Gia has company of the brother variety. Without waiting for an
invitation he walks in to Gia’s apartment. “I went to see Tasha today.
How did your chat with Alcazar go?”

“How did you know about that?!” Marcus glares at Zander suspiciously.

“Have you forgotten that whatever else Tasha doesn’t know... she is still a Cassadine?!”

“Little sneak was listening out in the hall.” Marcus curses.

“Hallway, secret passage. Hell if I know. But I do know that she knew.”

“Why would she listen in on a conversation between Stefan and Marcus?” Gia wonders.

“Because Mr. Marcus came to see her. Therefore Stefan had no business talking to him. Because he’s her friend, not his.”

Gia
snorts at that. “Oh I know it isn’t funny but it really is. I worked
for Alexis for a year. And her acting like a brat along with Marcus
calling her a little sneak is just Outer Limits type stuff.”

“Alcazar know where Carly is?” Zander gets down to brass tacks.

“Police business, Zander.” Marcus counters.

Gia and Zander look at each other and say together. “No.”

Marcus
shrugs. “Not even when I mentioned the two million dollar reward. I’m
still hoping that is the bait that is going to pull Javier out from
under his rock.”

Alcazar
hangs back at the top of the stairs by the Harrison fishing pier. He
hoped he was wrong but there had been a look in Javier’s eye when he
reported where the trigger to the Panic Room was hidden in the book
case and the fact that Carly Corinthos was there of all things chained
to a wall. The woman was evidently living up to her difficult
reputation if Lansing couldn’t control a pregnant woman in a locked
room without chaining her to a wall like a bitch.

Money is a
strong pull. Javier could make that two million dollars in just a few
years of service to the Alcazars but one act of disloyalty, of betrayal
and he’d have the money in a Swiss or Cayman island bank account and if
done properly maybe he thought the Alcazars would never know. It didn’t
work that way. Lorenzo slips the knife smoothly in Javier’s back
slicing between his ribs straight to his heart. He doesn’t bother
pulling the knife back out. It’s a throwing knife, specialized yes, but
not particularly special. The knife would hold the blood in, otherwise
the wound would pump the contents of Javier’s corpse, still standing,
onto the wooden pier and even on to him. Pressing between the top of
Javier’s shoulder blades with his left hand, Alcazar pushes Javier into
the Charles River and then walks on.